kingofthehillfandomcom-20200223-history
King of the Hill
King of the Hill is an American animated series created by Mike Judge and Greg Daniels, that ran from January 12, 1997 to September 13, 2009 on FOX. It centers on the Hills, a small-town Methodist family in Arlen, Texas. It attempts to retain a realistic approach, seeking humor in the conventional or mundane aspects of everyday life. Judge and Daniels conceived the series after a run with Judge's Beavis and Butt-head on MTV, and the series debuted on the Fox Network on January 12, 1997, becoming a hit early on. The series' popularity has also led to syndication around the world, including every night on Cartoon Network's late night programming block Adult Swim. The show has risen to become one of Fox's longest-running series, and the second longest-running American animated series, behind [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Simpsons The Simpsons]. In 2007, it was named by Time magazine as one of the top 100 greatest television shows of all time. The title theme was written and performed by The Refreshments. King of the Hill has won two Emmy Awards and has been nominated for seven since its inception. History Conception In early 1995, after the successful run of Beavis and Butt-head on MTV, Mike Judge co-created King of the Hill with former Simpsons writer Greg Daniels. Judge was a former resident of Garland, a suburb of Dallas, Texas considered the basis for the setting of the series, the fictional Arlen. Mike Judge conceived the idea for the show, drew the main characters, and wrote a pilot script. Fox teamed the cartoonist with an experienced prime-time TV writer. Greg Daniels rewrote the pilot script and created several important characters that did not appear in Judge's first draft (including Luanne and Cotton), as well as some characterization ideas (e.g., making Dale Gribble a conspiracy theorist). Initial success After its debut, the series became a huge success for Fox and was named one of the best television series by various publications, including Entertainment Weekly, Time and TV Guide. For the 1997-1998 season, the series became one of Fox's highest rated programs and nearly outperformed The Simpsons in ratings. During the fifth and sixth seasons, Mike Judge and Greg Daniels became less involved with the show. They eventually focused on the show again, though Greg Daniels steadily became more involved with other projects. Facing cancellation The series' tenth season was largely composed of episodes that did not air the previous season due to frequent sporting event preemptions. During the tenth season, in 2005, the show was scheduled to be canceled; however, it managed to attract high ratings and was renewed. Fox renewed the series for seasons eleven and twelve, making it the second longest-running animated television series after The Simpsons. The thirteenth season episode Lucky See, Monkey Do became the first episode of the series to be produced in widescreen high-definition when it aired on February 8, 2009. Settings, characters, and themes Setting King of the Hill is set in the fictional town of Arlen, Texas. In a 1995 interview prior to the show's debut, Judge described the setting as "a town like Humble." In a more recent interview, Judge has cited Garland, Texas, a Dallas suburb, as the specific inspiration for Arlen. Despite the fictitious locale, the show strives to portray the region accurately, going so far as to have annual research trips to Texas for the writing staff. Time magazine praised the authentic portrayal as the "most acutely observed, realistic sitcom about regional American life bar none". Arlen includes settings such as Rainey Street, where the Hills reside, and Strickland Propane, the business where Hank works. Also included are parodies of well-known businesses, such as Mega-Lo Mart (a parody of big-box stores), Luly's (a parody of Luby's), and Bazooms (a parody of Hooters). Most of the children in the show attend Tom Landry Middle School (named after the former Dallas Cowboys coach). Early in the series, the school is referred to as being in the Heimlich County School District (according to markings on the school buses), though in later seasons this is changed to Arlen Independent School District. The school's mascot is a longhorn steer (named after the University of Texas Longhorns). The local country club is the Nine Rivers Country Club, though this club exclusively admits Asian-Americans. Characters King of the Hill depicts an average middle-class family and their lives in a typical American town. It documents the Hills' day-to-day-lives in the small Texas town of Arlen, exploring modern themes such as parent-child relationships, friendship, loyalty, and justice. As an animated sitcom, however, King of the Hill's scope is generally larger than that of a regular sitcom. The series also featured numerous celebrity guests during its run including, Troy Aikman, Heather Locklear, Sally Field, Johnny Depp, Janeane Garofalo, Jason Bateman and Brad Pitt. In the later seasons, Tom Petty joined the cast as Lucky, Luanne's boyfriend/husband. Episodes Main Article Episode Outlines Fox initially ordered 13 episodes with production code DABE''xx'', but decided to keep the show in production for four additional episodes (DABE14-DABE17) bringing the actual amount of remaining unaired episodes to four, however the network nevertheless has yet to license those extra episodes. Fox later announced that they will not air the episodes in primetime opting instead for syndication with the possibility that the episodes may air first on Adult Swim.http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118006969.html?categoryid=14&cs=1&ref=bd_tv Category:King of the Hill Wiki